alison kosik, thanks so much. >> sure. >> thanks for joining me today. i'm carol costello. "legal view" with ashleigh "legal view" with ashleigh banfield starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. nice to have you with us, i'm ashleigh banfield, it's tuesday, august 13th and welcome to "legal view" where we cover the day's top stories and thinking into the stories of the day, as well. how about this for the top story. paula deen, she just got one legal burden lifted off her shoulders, because a federal judge has decided to dismiss the racial discrimination claims that were part of a lawsuit filed against her by a former employee. those allegations that deen and her brother discriminated against black workers shocked people and it got worse when deen admitted she used the "n" word in the past. we have more on the story. >> i want to apologize to everybody. >> reporter: some good news for paula deen in the case that

brought down her multimillion dollar empire. >> my goodness. >> reporter: the embattled tv chef has been cleared of the racial discrimination claims filed in a lawsuit by a former employee. on monday, a judge ruled that a former manager of her savannah restaurant couldn't be the victim of racial discrimination targeting african-american employees because she is white. writing, at best, plaintiff is an accidental victim of the alleged racial discrimination. >> it was a very big victory, because summary judgment motions are incredibly rarely granted. it tells us a lot about the strength of the plaintiff's claims, that they were very weak. >> reporter: deen's reps say they are pleased with the ruling. she is confident that those who truly know how she lives her life know she believes in equal opportunity, kindness and fairness for everyone. it was in the deposition for this lawsuit that deen first acknowledged using the "n" word and so deen was thrust into a second trial of sorts, this time in the court of public opinion. >> the day i used that word, it

was a world ago. it was 30 years ago. i had had a gun put to my head. >> deen and her family went on the defensive. >> our mother is a compassion e compassionate, good-hearted empathetic person you would meet. >> it is completely absurd. >> the scandal led to a devastating domino effect, as deen was dropped from deal after lucrative endorsement deal. >> the sad truth, even if you are wrongfully sued in america, your best recourse, ultimately, is to just lick your wounds and move on. >> well, deen's legal troubles are not over. the woman who filed the lawsuit claims she was the victim of sexual harassment at deen's restaurant. the judge hasn't decided if that part of the suit will go forward. ashleigh? >> all right, micahlah pereira, thank you. i want to bring in our legal panel.

i'm joined by our cnn legal analysts. joey jackson, you're not on the set with us today. we're going to have to play with you by remote, okay? you're in the monitor between us, my friend. good to have you on the show. >> thank you. >> let me start with you. you just said in the story that micahlah pereira filed for cnn, there is not a whole lot you can do if you're wrongfully sued. i'm not suggesting for a moment this lawsuit was wrongfully filed, because only part of it has been dismissed. what do you -- it's very disheartening. what do you mean by that? >> think about it. in this case, this is a case where now ultimately these claims were dismissed, because -- and you have to understand, and paul can agree with me and joey. when you file a motion for summary judgment, they are granted in the most exceedingly rare cases. i filed maybe 50 of them. between the three of us, we have maybe had two or three granted. it's that rare. you have to -- the judge is going to assume everything the plaintiff says is true, and resolve all doubts against the defendant. and even under that standard,

the plaintiff in this case loses. so that gives us an idea about the strength of a claim that can be enough to bring you into court and bring you to a deposition. >> and if you're famous, bring you on the tv. >> where the rules of discovery are so broad, you can be asked a question that i think most legal experts would agree, was pretty much stretching the scope of discovery, and have your career ruined. >> so what about the power of the fact that only part of this lawsuit has been dismissed? does that all of a sudden say to this judge, i really need to take a deep, dark look at the other claims made in this suit, or does it have no bearing at all on the abuse allegations and also the sexual harassment? >> this is very common, by the way, in these cases where there are multiple claims that are made on different theories, racial discrimination, sex harassment and so on and so forth. a lot of times, you see one of the claims being dismissed. so i don't think it's going to have that kind of an effect on the judge. and -- >> you're saying those others will stand and they will be litigated. >> they could very well stand. and i suppose a lot of people

might look at this and say, you know something, even though that claim got thrown out, maybe the public learned a little bit about this person that we would all like to know. >> so the court of public opinion played a bigger role. >> that's right, that's right. and it was a close enough question, i guess, as to whether or not a claim could be brought, that the attorneys won't be sanctioned for bringing it. so i think that's the argument they will make. >> joey jackson, i was reading through this dismissal, and there is a lot of pretty strident language from the judge, basically suggesting -- kind of boring to read. this judge basically said -- >> no! >> that's a legal show, right? the judge basically said, look, if you are white, do not come crying to me about being -- about being felt as if there is racism against you, because she made comments about black people. is this something we didn't expect, and ps, how did it make it in the first place? >> you know what, i thought it was a great argument, ashleigh. and just to take a step back. remember, the judge didn't pass on the factual significance of the claims, meaning they could very well be true.

the fact is, and, of course, the judge viewed them as true. that is all the allegations that were made. but what the judge said was, listen, as azone of interest here, in title 7 is to protect a certain class of people. if you don't fall within that class, you have to be significantly affected or affected enough, where the suit can touch you. for example, there are those people who are white who file successfully discrimination claims, and it's in that lawsuit, ashleigh. for example, one person filed a suit and said, i'm discriminated against because i'm in an interracial marriage. that can stand, even though our white. another said i support affirmative action and my employer was holding it against me that. can stand. here, however, the court said we appreciate the fact you like association that you associate with groups of people to your liking or not to your liking, but you're not significantly impacted to have a claim here for discrimination. >> so it was not enough. if you're offended by it, it is not enough to be discriminated against. hold that thought for a minute. i have a whole lot more for all

three of you young gentlemen. and thank you for being here on our brand-new program. in the meantime, this other story, sort of in the race column here, oprah winfrey now apologizing for creating what she has pretty much characterized as an uproar after she says she felt she was discriminated against in a posh store in switzerland. it was on "entertainment tonight" that oprah said she asked to see a $38,000 handbag and the clerk said no, you can't afford it or something to those words, anyway. oprah didn't name the store, but it didn't take people long to find out who the store was, who the manager was and the employee was. the manager said this was a misunderstanding, it wasn't racism. and while oprah stands by her story, she does say it has been blown out of proportion. >> i think that incident in switzerland was just an incident in switzerland. i'm really sorry that it got blown up. i purposely did not mention the name of the store. i'm sorry that i said it was switzerland. i was just referencing it as an

example of being in a place where people don't expect that you would be able to be there. >> you know, it's amazing that oprah has also mentioned she felt discrimination on madison avenue in new york. when some folks would not open the door for her. by the way, she does say she is not expecting an apology from the store over all of this. and this hour also on the legal view, several women have accused san diego's mayor of sexual harassment. and right now he still has a job. but what if he worked in the private sector? would he be fired right away? and, by the way, he's in the public sector. shouldn't we be able to fire him right away? what's the basis behind this? also, transgender children in one state can now choose whichever bathroom they want to use and they can play on whichever sporting team they want to play on. for them, that might be fabulous. but for others, they say that's not fair to my child. we're going to dig into that debate, as well. and what if you saw this sign in

a shopping mall parking lot? it flicked for a minute, but you're right, it said "no muslim parking: your car will be towed." are you kidding me? does a business have the right to say this, to do this? it's 2013. more stories ahead on "the legal view". stay with us. she's always been able to brighten your day. it's just her way. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity.

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no antibiotics ever. look for natureraised farms® chicken at your local store. welcome back to "legal view." i'm ashleigh banfield. when you see this, you may shake your head in amazement. take a peek. you don't want to be in that resort. that's an instant sinkhole that swallowed part of a florida resort complex. and this is one of the first 911 calls that came in when this happened sunday night. >> where's the patient located at? >> it's not a patient. we have a building that potentially is collapsing. i don't know if it's a sinkhole or what. but we've got people in the building. we're trying to get it, but -- we're trying to get them evacuated and they're saying it's collapsing so fast, they don't know they'll be able to get to all these rooms.

>> okay. and i am going get the fire department on the way. is there a specific building number? >> it's building 104. >> yeah. the fire department better not be looking for building 104. look at it. ists not there. incredibly, even as you look at this destruction, nobody was hurt. but this story is not over, because the sinkhole is still growing. it is now 100 feet wide. so a question is, what about the other buildings? what about the other people? what about the other potential damage in this area? our martin savidge got there very quickly to report on exactly those questions. are we getting any answers to that yet, marty? >> reporter: no, they're still trying to figure out exactly the engineering team, private company, has been brought in. and they're trying to determine, is it stable? they think it is. they don't believe it actually is growing. but 100 feet, that is a huge hole, even by florida sinkhole standards. and so now they are worried about other buildings on the property. they've evacuated two others. it's a lot of people displaced. and on top of that, there are

items people had to leave behind, such as passports, which they're likely never to get back again. it's just too dangerous. but as you point out, the most important thing, nobody lost their lives. in fact, nobody was injured, and a lot of that was due to richard shanley, the security guard who i spoke to, the man who went in and literally went door to door to get people out. listen. >> i honestly didn't know what to think it was. i just knew the building was coming apart. i had no understanding, no reason, no why it was happening. >> reporter: but you acted. >> yes, i did. >> reporter: what did you do? >> i went door to door, beating on the doors, trying to get people out, making sure they were safe. i went floor to floor, getting everybody out. and by the time i got done, i didn't think about it, just got them out and got out myself. >> reporter: we have to remind people, it was late at night. >> yes, it was 11:00 at night. >> reporter: when people are normally around. >> no, sir. there were people sleeping in rooms. i physically had to wake them up. >> reporter: what was their reaction? >> they thought i was kidding, it was a joke. i said it's no joke. you can look down the hallway and see it.

and they looked down and got devastated and they -- i took them out to each end of the stairwells, wasn't going to let them come through the breezeway. don't worry about grabbing your stuff, just get out. >> reporter: and the damage is staggering, but, again, it is really miraculous that nobody was killed. and a lot of that due to the man you just saw. so what is going on today is really trying to ascertain, could there be other problems on the property? most of this resort has been unaffected. it serves about 4,000 vacationers. and they estimate only 3% of those people have been impacted as a result of just that one building that was lost, ashleigh. >> what a great guy for doing that. we need more americans like that. martin, thank you very much. update us if you hear anything change in those statistics, about 100 feet and growing. martin savidge, live in florida. there is still a lot of interesting questions that swirl around the sinkhole. i like to say this day in sync hole news, because it seems like we're having one a day, at

least. i want to bring back tour attorneys to talk about what some people are calling the sink hole lottery. i can't believe i'm using that lottery, the sinkhole lottery. let me explain what some people may not know about, swallowed up by the headlines. it turns out some people are actually fleecing the government with phony insurance claims, or at least insurance claims they have no intention of using properly. they get the sinkhole damage, right? and they file a claim for the sinkhole damage. they get the payout for their sinkhole damage. they may have a crack in their floor, in fact, but they don't actually repair it. they take the money, they don't repair the house. what happens when you have crumbling houses? the neighborhood crumbles too. values go down. our premiums all go up and get this. 57% of homes in florida that filed sinkhole damage claims still have not been repaired. and many never will. wow. 57%. some of them are bogus and the owners just pocketed the money. but some weren't bogus and the owners pocketed the money and

didn't do the repairs. so i say that's morally corrupt. but that doesn't matter when it comes to the law. danny, what can anybody do about this, or is this just the insurance companies, they're not doing the due diligence they need to? >> there is another side to the coin. consider this. if you have an insurance policy and it just doesn't cover enough, if you have $100,000 worth of damage and the max is $25,000, they may not pay you enough to make the required repairs to your home. so while we do have a lot of abuse of the system, and it's not just sinkhole insurance, it's all insurance. since the beginning of time. people have always been taking payouts, and they don't go back and buy the cds stolen out of their car. they pocket it. this has been going on for a long, long time. but there is that possibility that people simply don't have policies that cover the amount of actual damage to their home. so there may be some actual innocence here. florida has tried to pass some legislation, but there are mixed reviews as to whether or not it has addressed the problem by requiring people to use those payouts to repair their home. >> sometimes, as i understand, not always, but some insurance

companies require, paul, you use their contractors and there have been all sorts of complaints their contractors stink. >> you know, it's a free market out there. and particularly in places like florida. if an insurance company -- if you want to buy that, you know, less expensive insurance policy, and you have to use their contractors, you know, you can do that. but -- >> caveat emtor. >> the insurance policies should cancel insurance if the people don't fix the sink hole damage. >> so don't just send the ju adjuster out, send out the completer. >> cancel the policy going forward and the person has no insurance. that would put the pressure on. >> what if you live beside this, if you're the neighbors and that's now your neighborhood and you're trying to put up your sale sign, you're out a lot of money? >> personally, i think it looks like a nice place to move casey anthony. >> oh, i knew that was coming. more legal news there, too. you just -- you just guaranteed yourself a guest appearance on an upcoming program about casey

anthony's civil legal woes. okay, you two. thank you very much for that. we still have other news coming up. in fact, i have seen this happen before, and i still can't believe it happens. a fan falling to his death at a stadium. this time at the atlanta braves stadium. not the first time. we're going to take you live to turner field and tell you what happened next. i'm beth... and i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. ink from chase. so you can.

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welcome back, everybody, to "legal view," i'm ashleigh banfield in new york. we are learning a lot more now about a man who fell to his death atlanta's turner field. all of this happening last night during the game against the phillies. it was about a 60-foot drop. actually, 65, from the upper level to the ground below. our alina machado is live at turner field, digging around to find out how this happened as there were security measures in place. what have you been able to find out, alina? >> reporter: well, ashleigh, we have learned a little bit more about the victim. his name was ronald homer. he was 29 years old, and he was from conyers, georgia, a town about 25 miles east of atlanta. i want to give you a sense of

where this all happened here at turner field last night during this rain delay. police say homer appears to have fallen 65 feet in the area behind those seats you are looking at. from an upper level platform to a secured parking lot. at this point, atlanta police are not suspecting foul play. homer's death, according to them, appears to be an accident. it is also too soon to tell, according to police, if alcohol played a role in this death. according to the medical examiner's office, it could take up to eight weeks for toxicology reports to come back. ashleigh? >> so alina, i'm just looking behind you, and what you're really pointing out here is that long, long drop at the very back of the highest point of the bleachers. would that be where he's looking at some kind of play or trying to catch a ball? it looks awfully high for that. >> reporter: we don't know exactly where he was standing in that area behind those bleachers. investigators are still sorting through witness accounts and we, of course, are trying to get more information, as well. but we don't know also what he

was doing in that area. we hope to learn that information as the investigation progresses. >> such an odd place. alina machado, live for us, thank you, at turner field. stunning new details this morning about the ordeal and the rescue of this girl, hannah anderson. she is that california 16-year-old who was held captive for six days by someone who was supposed to be a family friend, james dimaggio. turned out not to be at all. that young girl did not know that her mother and her brother had been killed and that their bodies had been burned in his home before he whisked her away to the idaho wilderness. her captor apparently at least got off one shot at the rescuers before he himself was gunned down. and by necessity, the rescue operation came together very quickly. have a listen. >> because they were spotted so quick quickly, everybody was kind of taken off guard. we really were in for a long,

drawn-out search. i was in the command post at the time, listening live when we got confirmation that she was okay. it was like a weight lifted off of everybody's shoulders. and the job well done. >> a weight lifted off by so many people, as well. we all followed this, and now hannah anderson is back with her family members, the ones who have survived all of this, anyway, in southern california. and her dad is asking everyone for some time and space as they try to heal from all of it. >> the healing process will be slow. she has been through a tremendous, horrific ordeal. i am very proud of her, and i love her very much. she is surrounded by the love of her family, friends and community. again, please, as a family, give us our time to heal and grieve. >> i'm sure so many people's hearts go out to brett anderson and what he has gone through.

coming up, several women have accused san diego's mayor of sexual harassment. and as of now, he is still the mayor. so what if he worked at a private company? would he still be holding his job and his desk? and, by the way, if he's in a public position, why can't he just be fired? that story coming up next.

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so what if this guy worked for your company? would he still be on your payroll? i'm talking about bob filner. he's facing a long, very long list of sexual harassment the allegations and an ever-increasing resounding call for his resignation. but he is still the mayor of san diego. and so far, we're not hearing that he's got any other plans but to stay as the mayor of san diego. meanwhile, a crowd held a rally

to make it clear they're not happy he's still the mayor of san diego. and that he's planning to return to the mayor's office after a stint in counseling. >> two weeks is not a cure. two weeks is not enough for us to forget. we are not going to forget. we are not going away and we will keep repeating, "bob must go!" bob must go! bob must go! >> you heard it. two weeks is not enough. what's he referring to? the rehab. the rehab he apparently left early. our lawyers are back with me now. danny and paul. people shake their heads at this, thinking, wait a minute, if you do something naughty, you're out. that's not the case when it comes to public office anywhere, and particularly this jurisdiction, right, paul? >> not true at all. as a matter of fact, particularly famous case, michael kerley, famous mayor of boston, served as mayor from a prison cell. he was re-elected after being convicted of a felony and continued to serve as mayor of

boston. san diego, same thing. even if this mayor had been convicted of a crime, couldn't necessarily be forced out of office. they can do a recall election, though. they've got 40 days to put the signatures together to recall him. and he can be thrown out of office by the voters. >> let me get this straight. vote who are do not like this, and there are many, you saw some in that protest, they have to go by the recall process, they can't do an impeachment or something more drastic like you're just fired? >> there doesn't seem to be an impeachment statute that applies or code. you look to the municipal code here and the only available remedy seems to be a recall in this case. so the question becomes, can they get enough voters involved for the recall. but it stands in stark contrast to california being an at-will state, which means for private en entities, you can hire or fire for any reason, as long as it's not an illegal reason, which is why this case shocks people. because when it comes to our public officials -- >> it's not the same. >> no rules are totally

inverted. >> and seems like it should be the other way around, quite frankly. here is my question. maybe he could be, you know, like that 1920s mayor and serve while he's in trouble. and maybe he'll have to spend time in civil courtrooms, because any one of those people who made those allegations can take this the civil route, right, paul? >> yes, they're talking as many as 13 sets of allegations out there, and they all can file lawsuits against him. he's their employer, and if he acts improperly, there are federal laws that protect them. >> so good luck to that jurisdiction to get its work done if he is battling lawsuits on a bunch of fronts, right? >> tough place to be a female municipal worker. >> and tough place to be the mayor. people are going to dislike him even more. danny and paul, stand by. a couple other things. speaking of boston, the mobster, james "whitey" bulger, guilty. not just a little, a lot. dozens of guilty verdicts coming down in that racketeering and murder case. now one of his enforcers who

took a stand is speaking out. >> we killed people for being rats, and i have the two biggest rats right next to me. >> that man, kevin weekes, was like a son to bulger, a bad son. up next, you'll hear why he says he would shoot bulger if they were in the same room. [ male announcer ] come to the golden opportunity sales event

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crime and punishment. welcome back to "legal view," everyone, i'm ashleigh banfield. when it comes to crime and punishment, the reign and terror that capture the trial of james "whitey" bulger is tough to top. what a saga. for years, he was the vicious mob boss of south boston. no more, though. he's going to be an inmate. he is expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted of racketeering

and murder and a whole lost of gang crimes i don't have the time to list for you. it's that long. his lawyer says there is absolutely going to be an pa peel, because he says the judge refused to allow whitey bulger to defend himself with the argument that in effect he was given a license to kill by the government. because the government game him immunity for his crimes. that's what he says. deborah feyerick with more on how this drama played out. >> reporter: as whitey bulger's mob enforcer, kevin weeks says he buried the bodies, moved the guns and collected the cash, which bookmakers and businessmen paid to stay in business. weeks was one of the government's eye-witnesses. last month, he came face-to-face with his one-time crime partner. >> the -- he wasn't the same guy i knew. he was a lot older. but his -- you know, life in his eyes. he had changed. he kind of lost the spark. >> reporter: weeks turned against his former boss after

learning bulger, who ran a murderous criminal enterprise for 20 years, spent much of the time as a government informant, the kind of man bulger always referred to as a rat. during the trial, weeks and bulger cursed each other after a defense question about weeks' role and his regrets. >> basically what he asked was, he says, you have no regrets in life. nothing bothers you. i says, you know what bothered me. we killed five people. he says and that bothered you? i said no, what bothered me, we killed people for being rats and i had the two biggest rats next to me. >> reporter: defense argued they never provided any useful information to the government and it was argued weeks testified he had seen jim bulger murder deborah husbay with his n eyes. >> i walked out and jimmy was strangling with her. and jimmy jumped out and started strangling her. and he killed her. and then she was brought downstairs and ultimately buried. >> reporter: do you ever think of the look on debby husy's

face? >> no. >> reporter: do you remember the look? >> not really. >> reporter: do you remember bulger and how he reacted after? >> he laid down and went to sleep. >> reporter: why? >> he always did. he was nice and relaxed. >> reporter: in december, 1994, bulger fled south boston after a corrupt fbi agent tipped him off, the feds were closing in. after a worldwide manhunt, bulger was finally arrested in santa monica, california, in 2011. whitey bulger stood up and said he didn't get a fair trial, it was a sham. he had been given immunity by a corrupt prosecutor. what do you think of that? >> i will equate it to this. he got a fairer trial than the people we killed. >> reporter: do you think jim bulger ever lies awake at night, thinking about the people he allegedly killed or killed? >> i think he lies awake at night thinking about the people

he should have killed and didn't kill. >> reporter: if jim bulger were sitting across from you right now -- >> right. >> reporter: what would you want to say to him? >> nothing. i would have to shoot him, because he would be trying to shoot me. if he was sitting there right now. >> reporter: deborah feyerick, cnn, boston. >> wonder if mr. weeks ever lies awake at night because of what he has done. so this is the 21st century, right? muslims heading to worship were treated to this little ditty. this sign. no muslim parking, your car will be towed. is that legal? coming up, you're going to find out. [announcer] there's no hiding the goodness of the latest from

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new heartfuls are made with real bacon... ...and oven-baked to crisp perfection. new heartfuls from beneful baked delights. welcome back to "legal view," i'm ashleigh banfield. there was a time in this country when signs like these were common. you can see beside that man, "white only entrance." and there were all sorts of signs saying "colored only," "no coloreds" or "colored only entrance" or "no jews" you would think was ancient history, especially from the black and white images, right? no, not right. because this sign was found this week. no muslim parking in the westview shopping center, your car will be towed. so if it was last week's sign and this weeks issue, it's a big

problem. the shopping center is across the street from a mosque in spring branch texas outside of houston. the muslims across the country who have been seeing this are pretty darn angry. the employees of the shopping center say that members of the mosque are taking parking spaces that are meant for customers, especially during their celebration times, like ramadan or the end of ramadan. the owner of the shopping center says he has no idea who put up the signs. but they have since been taken down. are the signs illegal? they aren't right. they're ugly. it's not nice to say that. but are they illegal? our legal panelists here to sort this out. paul callan, danny sovalos. and we were having spirited conversation about first amendment rights, making the sign and saying those ugly words. and then, of course, discrimination. and civil rights. so danny, where do those two things come together oh are clash, or do they? >> first, after 1964, if you have a company, you hang out your shingle and you discriminate against someone

based on their race or religion or any of the protected classes, you're violating civil rights act. the civil rights statute. however, going back to free speech, the question becomes, is the content of this speech such that it is not protected by the first amendment? first, consider how different the statement is, if the word instead of muslim is mosque. fascinating, right? >> how does that change anything? >> it changes it completely. >> so no muslims here -- >> no, no, the statement was "no muslim parking." if you change that to "no mosque parking" you're talking about a place of business people are going to, namely the mosque. and then it becomes proper. however, this could be chalked up to something too ignorant to know the difference. but you could make that assumption that everybody who goes to a mosque technically may be muslim. but think about our speech and how drastically different this becomes, how it implicates the first amendment in a different way, when you say "no mosque parking" which is probably properly under the first amendment. and then it becomes "no muslim

parking" possibly discriminatory and not protected under the first amendment. >> i think ignorant is an understatement. and i'll say that only because if this is a church -- and joey jackson, i'm sorry, i didn't introduce you. hello, my friend. >> good, ashleigh, always great to be with you. >> and the church was celebrating a big wedding and people were parking, i could understand that they say no church parking here. but if they said no christian parking, you can't imagine a moment where they would say no christian parking, could you, joey? >> i can't at all. i can't imagine they did this. it's improper, inappropriate, illegal, on all counts. i understand we have a first amendment. that first amendment is strong. we can say things, do things. you can argue, however, in the first amendment context this is hateful. because it would have a tendency to segregate a particular type of category of people, and you could, you know, even argue that it could insight violence against those people. and so something like this should not ever be done, and is certainly action could be taken to take it down. and i think in a broader context, from a moral issue, it's not only muslims that are

outraged, all of us are outraged, because certainly if you discriminate against one group, what's next? so certainly this should never happen at all. >> so paul callan, what's the difference between -- and i'm not sure if danny already answered it, but i'm still a little confused. what's the difference between marching down the street, as you have seen kkk members do, saying i hate a certain color and putting up a sign saying i want a color not to park here. they're both signs, and they are speech. >> they are. here's the difference and why i think it doesn't make a difference. yes, the first amendment protects your ability to hate other people, for the most part. and this shopping center could have put up a sign saying "we don't like muslims." however, they would still have to serve muslims or face a lawsuit. free speech allows you to express your hatred. but the law says, if you're going to deny service to somebody based on gender or religion or color of skin, you're going to pay a price in a lawsuit. for instance, you could have an employment manual, and you could write in the employment manual,

women need not apply for higher positions in this organization. that's free speech. but that would be discrimination under federal law. the corporation would be sued and would pay a huge amount of money. >> so writing it is not the infraction, not executing the apologies. >> violence of segregating a particular group of people, it becomes problematic and falls out of the first amendment. that's a problem. >> oh, you guys, i knew you would settle this for me. thank you. and i know that joey jackson, you're a very busy man, your hln programs you're preparing for. so i have to say goodbye. thank you. >> see you later, ashleigh. bye-bye, paul. >> see you back on the legal program. love having the lawyers on staff now in a legal program. so here's another one for you. american airlines mired in the law right now, because american and usairways want to merge. but the justice department in a slew of states said not so fast, jet airliner. richard quest is going to join

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richard quest is a very busy

pan and comes to us about the justice department filing an anti-trust lawsuit. richard, you been on this story and this be was not something that these parties expected the justice department to do. >> no, they did not. this is a deal. they're hoping to close this transaction to do the merger by the end of this month of august. they've had approval from the european and they were waiting for two things. the bankruptcy judge who has to approve it for american airlines and the doj. everyone was expected the doj to say you can have your deal but you'll have to give some slots. >> that's big. >> it's not only the doj but the attorney generals of florida,

tennessee, texas, pennsylvania, virginia and d.c. >> why those states? what's the problem? >> that's where they are based. texas, amr. pennsylvania is for u.s. airways. these are the places where they have heavy concentration. there's a conference call under way at the moment with the doj. basically, they're saying in their view if this deal goes ahead it will be anticompetitive in those key markets. >> one line, not going to happen by the end of the month. >> not necessarily. t this is so far down the road that the negotiation strategy is intense. >> if anyone knows intense, it's you. >> coming from you. >> it's great to have you state side. >> you can. sgr he's moved.

transgender students in california have the right to decide which bathroom they the go in and what sports team they can join. while that's great for them, what about those who aren't so happy about it like some of the girls in that girls room who say i feel violated. we'll have our experts weigh in on this one, next. this is the one i was telling you about. the new samsung galaxy s 4. it's got a front and back camera so you can take pictures at the same time. seriously! yeah - and it's on verizon's network. sweet! we can stay in touch when we go to school next year. that's so great! get the samsung galaxy s 4 for only $148 on

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welcome back to the legal view. i'm ashleigh banfield. i want to turn to california now for a bill of rights check. the governor signed a law yesterday allowing transgender students to choose their own bathroom, choose their own locker rooms and their own sports teams they want to play on at public schools. this is the first law of its kind in the states. the people who fought for it says this will change lives. >> i'm transgender myself. i had to miss classes and programs. no student should have to lie about themselves in order to get the graduacredits to graduate. >> there's some parents rattled by this including the mom of a 9-year-old girl. >> she's going be at a k-8 school. she could have a 14-year-old boy

walking in on her. >> how do you protect all the children? i want to bring in our legal analyst. this is a great question. whose rights are more important are can we get to that answer? >> it can be boiled down to the concept of we'll give you individual liberties until they infringe on others. that's the problem a lot of people have with this law. we want to give individual liberties to transgender children but are they infringing on the privacy of other children in the bathroom. you can look ahead to where this is going to take us, not just in the bathroom but on sports teams. you use a stall in the bathroom but if you played high school sports you know the locker rooms are the place to change and the bathroom is where you get fully nude. >> parents are worried about it and the students. they have their feelings and they may be legitimate feelings. what's the answer for them in.

>> pardon my lack of political correctness on think but when i hear a first grader is a girl trapped in a boy's body or vice versa and wants to use the girls room as opposed to the boys. i wonder if the science has kept up with where society is on this issue. i think a lot of people would be upset if they thought their first grade child, girl was going to be in the bathroom where a boy who thinks he's a girl. i think the law has moved a little too fast in this area with respect to elementary school. >> not if you're transgender. you've been discriminated against openly. >> that's fine when we get older, maybe into adolescence. i'm not so sure it's clear in first grade. >> i think the definition, we should have another big conversation about there.

i'm full out of time. >> thank you for watching. "around the world" starts now. i'm going to toss it over to you with that heavy question still hanging a in air about the right offense people that are different. >> perhaps what's happening in california. >> what about our own offices? how would you feel if it was extended to our office space? >> now you've started something. >> michael have you been in the ladies bathroom again? >> we'll stop this right there. >> you with wicked. like the new digs. >> thank you. so do i. >> she's cheeky. >> she is very cheeky. "around the world" starts right now.